A little over 100 Occupy Little Rock protesters marched through downtown Little Rock Saturday morning for their second major demonstration in less than a month.
Led by nearly a dozen or more Little Rock police officers, the group marched peacefully through the River Market district shouting "Block by block, Occupy Little Rock," and "We are the 99 percent."
The number of protesters appeared to have dwindled since the last march on Oct. 15, which amassed nearly 500 people. According to its Facebook page, which has 1,082 members as of Saturday, the participants of Saturday's protest claimed to march in support of "Bank Transfer Day".
A separate movement, started by Kristen Christian of Los Angeles, the Bank Transfer Day message is to urge consumers to "shift ... funds from the for-profit banking institutions in favor of not-for-profit credit unions" by Nov. 5, 2011, according to its Facebook page. Nationwide, the Occupy groups have adopted public support for the Bank Transfer movement.
The Occupy Little Rock protesters paused for several minutes in front of the Bank of America at Capitol and Louisiana streets and chanted "Banks got bailed out; we got sold out." The group held a minute of silence while one protester, Marie Mainard O'Connell of Little Rock, gave a monologue. O'Connell said they were there to "mourn the loss of our economy."
Some passersby met the group with opposition, shouting, "One percent, one percent," and "Get a job."
The group continued to march through the downtown area, stopping at other banks including Regions, before returning to their site at Fourth and Ferry streets. No incidents were reported in connection to the march.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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